Tom Hardy to Star in Ridley Scott Period Series Taboo for BBC

Tom Hardyhas signed on to star in an eight-part period series for BBC from executive producerRidley Scottand screenwriterSteven Knight,Deadlinereports.Knight, who directed Hardy inLocke, created the drama based on an original story the actor and his father Chips Hardy wrote.TV character ...

Set in 1813, the series stars Hardy as James Keziah Delaney, an adventurer who recently returned from Africa seeking to avenge his father's death. James' refusal to sell the family shipping and trade business results in a complicated battle with the East India Company, which Knight described as "the equivalent of the CIA, the NSA and the biggest, baddest multi-national corporation on Earth, all rolled into one self-righteous, religiously motivated monolith."

Delaney soon finds himself caught between Britain and America in a time "when the rising power of the Empire seeped into every dark corner," Scott explained.